has this happened to anyone else and if so how long until it returns????
i went out with robin b last friday,when he broke his collarbone and it shook me up a little,then out again this saturday with my usual lot and i just didnt feel right.
i can't put my finger on it but it was as if i had never been out before.
i think if someone would have offered to buy my bike as i was putting it away in the garage i think i would have snapped their hands off, thats how disillusioned with it all i was,
now i know things like this come and go on all the time but it really has made me think.
i always ride within my limits but maybe the track days at whiteway and haccadown changed my riding style.
i suppose on those events you only have to make sure you don't over cook the corners.
Never (fortunately) had in instance - either road biking or laning - where someones had a nasty incindent so I can't really comment. All I can say is that in my early days of laning, having started in the summer my confidence grew but come come the winter with its wet and slippery surfaces I had a wake-up call on one lane where I was going too fast on a downhill and some slippery rocks had me off and I took a real blow to the kidney area. That hurt and was a real eye opener to the risks of getting it wrong! I too now make sure I ride well within my comfort zone. It's no fun scaring yourself
Know what your saying mate. When I had my bad off on my Gas Gas near the view point at Sidmouth last year, I felt like jacking it in as well, took me a fair few weeks to gain my confidence and be selective with who I rode out with, also perhaps the reason why I rode out a lot on my own at the time as well.
Are you out mid week this week?
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Culmstock area - Devon TRF Group member - KTM 690 Enduro
The fun days give us a chance to stretch ourselves a little more than the lanes safely permit,and it is easy to get used to such a smoothly flowing track laid out for your enjoyment.Trying to apply the resulting riding technique on the lanes will lead to scary close encounters if you are lucky(and skilled).Otherwise a painful reminder of the sanitised risk assesed track environment versus the public road and all it's dangers is likely.
Go out for a ride on your own Paul,and choose a pace that you find comfortable.I find riding alone a tonic for such worry and soon start to enjoy the ride anough to forget being worried.I do find i travel faster when I have a group following.
The feeling only lasts till you replace it with something else so go out and remind yourself how much you enjoy riding. Alternatively come out this weekend and TEC for me while I show the Loddon Vale TRF guys around?
Went out with snafu for a ride, a liitle one on one ,made a hole lot of difference , got my confidence back a bit , i seem to blame the bike alot now .
I haven't ridden in months purely because I've got no dough coming in and I was/am in a similar position to you - if someone offered to buy my bike I might sell it purely because I'm not using it at the moment (And could do with the moeny!). I had a bit off an off a few years back on my road bike (broke my neck and my collarbone) but funnily I couldn't wait to get back on my bike, and three weeks later I was riding again.
All I can say is that you have to do what feels right - maybe a gentle run on your own or with another person may re-ignite the spark. Riding within your limits is the only way to ride mate (see my lesson above), and if you are with others that encourage you to go beyond this, I'd ride with someone else. Like Pete says, it's always fun to stretch yourself a bit on one of our track events, but that doesn't lend itself to riding the lanes either legally or for your own well being.
Hope that helps and that you get yourself sorted soon I may even venture out myself for a reintroductory bimble in East Devon this week, if you want to tag along let me know (I'll be wobbly and rusty as hell though).
Its probably just an off day or 2 combined with thoughts of recent events. That and the lanes had got slippery again and we need to re-calculate our lane speeds a little to adjust for that after months or relative dryness.
You'll be ok soon mate. If you need a group hug then there's a meet tomorrow
I also had a 'lucky' off going down devil steps on Saturday (got up fine), front wheel washed away in the rocky gully and I went down quite heavy hurting my wrist and totally trapped under the bike - would have been there now had I beed riding alone. But luckily my trusted wing-man Geoff got the bike off me. Wrist is ok, just a bit achey now.
hello guys after all this time your bound to ebb and flow with your enthusee ? after being brought down to earth after a training day on a enduro course prob will never use those skills but it pushs the skill envalope in you favour ,and hay we all fall off the idear is to do it slowly and not fall awkwardly and wear you protective gear ? the rest is luck and dont forget to say thankyou to your guiding angle, i mattee feels better soon keep taking the paracetamol ? lost
What can I say? (typing this with the left hand) Lol. 10 days on, no pain killers now and the bruising is going down. Hell it hurt, although not too much at the time.
I think I'd got complacent and was riding outside of my "controlled" zone.
I dont think I will have lost my confidence. I've certainly learnt a valuable lesson and hope I'll be a safer rider for it!
Hope to have a gentle ride middle of October and then do Somerset Oct 31st.
I totally agree with Geoff! I too have built up confidence over the drier months and dreading the first few proper wet rides. I couldn't wait to have a 'nice' off (if there is such a thing?) because I felt I was riding like a pansy. Dont get me wrong, it hasn't made me over confident, just enough to know my limits as such! Plus the fact, I was feeling a little left out. LOL Ride within your comfort zone, know the dangers/risks and dont feel you need to impress or keep up with your piers! Its the best advise anyone can give & take!!
wise words guys, i am busy this week and weekend so will give have to give it a miss but i will be back next week.
i will be fine, its just a confidence thing !
You are not alone by a long way buddy, it happens to the best. Just ask jt what happened last year.
The best advise is get out there soon as possible and do lots of small rides, two or three in a week and go with just one mate who can follow you, peer presssure is one thing you dont need at the moment.
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Took the Queens Shilling and disappeared for 23 Years !!
Yep - had a bad off a while back dropped behind the group as TEC and was trying to catch up - scared me as couldn't move my legs for several mins never been so glad to see Doug in all my life. I don't mind admitting I was laying on the deck just saying come back Doug over and over till I heard his bike coming back down the lane. Nowt broken thankfully but was black and blue for a couple of weeks......
Personally I wouldn't ride alone after that one - and I did a lot before - took weeks to get 'back in the groove' but glad I did. Now I just go at my own pace - if I'm up front then tough thats the speed we go, if I'm behind then you will have to wait for me or leave me behind
If I lead I ALWAYS tell folks there is NO PRESSURE and if I have to wait 1/2 hour at the end of each lane so be it - maybe it comes with age but I REALLY could not give a stuff if others think I'm slow - I ride cause I enjoy it not to impress (cause Doug and Gruff both know I'm bleddy good anyway)...
I know what your saying, I have not had an off for ages. But, I am aware that at any moment, It could be the end of a happy health life. So one can roll over and play safe or think sod it, and go for it. You never know, tomorrow we could both have a stroke etc. This sounds a bit heavy, but having been through what me and the family have suffered in the last two years, I say go for it. Rock on Brownie..........................................................
Took a long time (6 months) off of riding my Gasser EC250 in Spain - had a few offs and had no confidence in riding it so found excuses not to go out.
In the end I sold it, bought a TTR250 and started loving riding again.
Didn't try to hang with the fast Spanish guys any more and enjoyed the riding all the more for it.....especially as at least one of them ended up in plaster after pretty much every ride
Try going out with others and not lead - much more pressure on the guy in front as he has to see oncoming vehicles/hazards well before any of his followers. For some reason I ride much better and with less pressure as TEC - try that as a way to start enjoying the riding more.
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Caution - the poster may well have been drinking........
Paul Just read in the Herald that Wheeldon are doing an off road experience this weekend. Just up your street. Lunch and refreshments included. Bit pricey @ £199 tho